Performance analysis of FEM simulated different shaped membranes based capacitive MEMS sensor

Abstract

The study of a micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) based capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) is considered. The characteristics and behavioral studies of circular, hexagonal and square designed membranes are achieved. The circular CMUT provided better performance regarding membrane displacement, frequency and capacitance profiles. The study also includes the stress and strain behaviors of the membranes. The stress and strain profiles show circular CMUT has the highest tensile strength as compared to the other models. On the contrary substrate area is wasted for circular membranes in the context of array formation. The performances of the three CMUTs are analytically studied and simulations are done using COMSOL Multiphysics. The geometry is validated using this software by establishing frequency at which maximum displacement occurs. The key contribution of this work is to study the different shaped CMUT cells in order to corporate in array formation for further analysis.